Backlash (2002)
Backlash (2002) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) promotion, which took place on April 21, 2002, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The event starred talent from the Raw and SmackDown! brands. It was the fourth event under the Backlash chronology, the third consecutive Backlash presented by Castrol GTX. This was the first WWF pay-per-view event after the brand extension, and the first to be held at Kemper Arena since Over the Edge in 1999, in which Owen Hart, competing as The Blue Blazer, lost his life after falling 78 feet from a harness to the ring. Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card. The main match from the SmackDown! brand featured Hollywood Hulk Hogan defeating Triple H to win the Undisputed WWF Championship and the featured match from the Raw brand was an encounter between The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin with Ric Flair as the special guest referee, which The Undertaker won. The other main match from Raw was a Singles match for the Intercontinental Championship between Rob Van Dam and Eddie Guerrero, which Guerrero won by pinfall to win the championship. Storylines The event featured nine professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWF script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event. All wrestlers were from either one of the WWF's brands – Raw or SmackDown! – the two storyline divisions in which WWF assigned its employees. The main feud leading into Backlash on SmackDown! involved Undisputed WWF Champion Triple H and Hollywood Hulk Hogan. On the April 4 episode of SmackDown!, Mr. McMahon named Hogan the number one contender to the title at Backlash. Later that night, Hogan came out in red and yellow for the first time since returning to the WWF in order to talk about the match, with Triple H saying he won't back down. The next week, Hogan came out to help Edge chase off Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle after Edge fought Jericho. Later on, Triple H fought against Angle as Jericho interfered. Hogan came out to help Triple H to win the match, only for Angle to push Triple H at Hogan after the match, making Hogan attack Triple H and get taken out by Jericho and Angle. The next week on SmackDown!, Hogan confronted Jericho as Angle came to help Jericho, prompting Edge to run for the save. In the main event, Jericho and Angle fought Hogan and Triple H, as Hogan accidentally hit Triple H with a steel chair. After the match, Triple H hit Hogan with the chair. On the same night, it was confirmed that if Triple H would lose his title match, he would be drafted to SmackDown. The main feud on Raw featured The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin. On the April 1 episode of Raw, Ric Flair awarded Triple H with a new title belt, only for The Undertaker to challenge Triple H for a title match at Backlash. The same night, Austin decided to sign with the Raw brand, but he gave the Stone Cold Stunner to both Flair and Mr. McMahon. The next week on Raw, The Undertaker confronted Flair about McMahon making the title match for Backlash, making Austin come out and confront him. Flair booked two number one contenders matches on Raw, the first being The Undertaker vs. Rob Van Dam and the second being Austin vs. Scott Hall; the winners would face each other at Backlash for the number one contendership. Austin and The Undertaker won their respective matches, however, as Flair helped to chase X-Pac from Austin's match, Austin stunned him again. The next week on Raw, Flair fined Austin $5,000 and announced that he would be the referee for the match. Scott Hall and X-Pac came to attack Austin, making Flair book Austin and Bradshaw against Hall, X-Pac and The Undertaker in the main event. After the match, which Austin lost, The Undertaker attacked him with a steel chair. Aftermath Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Backlash Category:Backlash Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2002 Pay-Per-View Events